Now, 18 months later, they were among those of us at the altar in the warmsun, soft breezes and incense-laced air of Oriole Park.

They ascended the steps and reached for the hand of the man in thebillowing green vestments. With them were their 8-year-old daughter, Brigid,and their son, Sean McDonnell, fraternal twin of the late Ryan McDonnell, theboy who wasn't there.

The boy who wasn't there had been a gifted and talented student at ArbutusMiddle School. He was killed in March 1994 when he was struck by two vehicleswhile riding his bicycle near his home.

Friends of the family did all they could to help the McDonnells heal.Ryan's art teacher put his unfinished portrait of Cal Ripken Jr. into astudent exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art. "Cal was his hero," his mothersaid.

Friends of the family raised money for a scholarship fund for hisfraternal twin, so that Sean could attend Mount St. Joe. The Maiden ChoiceCommunity Association turned a vacant lot on Leeds Avenue into a park inRyan's memory.

Then the McDonnells, both of them active in Our Lady of Victory parish,were nominated -- they don't know by whom, exactly -- for a part in the papalMass, originally scheduled for October 1994.

Jim McDonnell is president of the parish council, his wife the presidentof the school board. That might have been why they were chosen to make thepeace offering to the pope.

But Ryan's death -- and the way it profoundly challenged their faith inGod -- had a lot to do with it, too. Perhaps everything to do with it.

"I think it's Ryan's gift to us," Patricia McDonnell said, a latentsadness still in her eyes. "This day is a gift to us."

A gift to an entire city.

Seldom has Baltimore had a more festive and emotional event, and theweather was superb. The day was washed in the gentle October light that put asoft edge on everything and cast long shadows across the bright green grass ofthe Camden Yards outfield. The almost constant breezes lifted theyellow-and-white papal flag beyond the altar. It would have been a perfect dayfor a World Series game.

Gray-haired bishops in cream robes, deaf children in ethnic costumes offour dozen nations, Catholic school kids in red and yellow and white T-shirts,gospel singers, Boyz II Men, a papal wave in the stands -- it was We Are TheWorld meets Up With People.

After the pope made his entrance and removed to the robing tent behind thealtar, everyone calmed down, incidental organ music played, and Oriole Parkbecame a great outdoor church -- so silent, at one point, that all that couldbe heard was the whining of a few small children.

During Mass, there was a moment when the only sound was the jangling ofmetal as the pope moved about the altar with the gold thurible. Where once wasthe smell of hot dogs -- in center field, just below the bleachers -- was nowthe aroma of High Mass.

Where once was the roar of the crowd was now the quiet of a chapel.

At the center of the day was the pope, seated on his throne, his famousmeditative countenance instilling in his flock contemplation on family,friends, and all that stirs about in the world outside the stadium -- from thestreets of Baltimore to the roads of rural Bosnia, from the huge miseries thatafflict masses of people to the personal sorrows of families like theMcDonnells.

"Some Catholics may be tempted to grow discouraged and not trust in God,"the pope said during his homily at Mass. "The prophet Habakkuk instead exhortsus to 'wait for God' and to trust patiently in his justice; the cross ofChrist reveals the Lord's constant presence in our trials and his promise ofnew life. This is our faith and the witness we bear."

"It was really hard for us to keep our faith when we lost Ryan," PatriciaMcDonnell said.

"The pope is here, and he's as close to God as we can be, and I believeGod and Ryan is telling us He didn't forsake us. He just needed Ryan. It tookme a year to be able to say that."

That's her faith speaking -- faith strengthened yesterday in the morningsun by the hand of the vicar of Christ.

Salisbury University has suspended its Phi Beta Sigma fraternity chapter for hazing, after members were reported to have hit pledges with paddles and held forced workouts at an off-campus house, school officials said.